Bred to Die, Born to Live
by TheBadHatter
Summary: In the world of organized crime, there are long periods when a single family are able to do business without any opposition... This enviable position was held by the Shibusen Family for the past decades. But recently multiple, unforeseen, enemies have begun rising power. With the underworld shifting over the balance of power, who'll be the one holding all the cards in the end?
1. It Was Written

**It Was Written**

On this scorching San Antonio summer day there were more things heating up this Texas-based city than just the snoozing-faced sun that hung over its citizens. Unbeknownst to anyone who wasn't involved with the politics in the southern states' underworld, an all-out war was on the verge of breaking out.

In the world of organized crime, there's very little room for any competition; and even if there was room, no one ever knew how to share. For the Shibusen family, it went from there being practically no competitors one year and then, out of the blue, three rival families suddenly gained enough power and resources to challenge the present state of affairs. Though no one, neither mafiosos, politicians, nor civilians at the time could have anticipated that the bloodshed would have been on a scale never before seen in the history of the Cosa Nostra.

The story we're all about to experience is one that will follow the tale of four crime syndicates as they each desperately try to tip the balance of power in their favor. In the underworld there is no true honor or glory to be gained;there is no knight in shining armor who came to vanquished all of the mob families, then rode off into the sunset, and everyone in San Antonio lived happily ever after. Neither shall we see protagonists that readers might label as "the misunderstood revolutionary" or "the flawed hero."

Everyone here is in the mafia; the characters portrayed are liars, connivers, thieves, con artists, murders, alcoholics, fiends/junkies, rapists, blackmailers, crooks, conspirators, traitors, fugitives, extortionists, dealers and traffickers. Although that's not to say that they don't have their redeeming qualities; just because they're **_mobsters_** doesn't mean they're **_monsters_**. There is no such thing as a person who's truely wicked in the same way a person can't be exclusively virtuous. There are no evil people, there are only evil actions.

So without further ado, let's meet the four families that the story centers around:

_Shibusen_:

Shibusen is currently the most successful criminal organization in San Antonio, and being that they're the oldest family they have strength in numbers. The current Godfather is Shinigami a.k.a. "Lord Death;" a name he earned himself during his younger, more violent, years when he was constantly at war. Which is a contrast to today where he's doing his "buisness" in a calmer, more peaceful, manner.

Recently Shinigami has been nervous about the status quo of his empire because recently one of the Shibusen's oldest enemies have begun stirring, _Arachnophobia_. The skull-masked Don thought they were all but completely wiped-out, then a couple of years ago they abruptly just started becoming more organized and were a lot more active than they have ever been. At least since Arachne, their leader at the time, was killed thirty-five years ago during their ongoing wars at the time.

Also, there was that situation last year when the balance of power was challenged by a new crime syndicate who formed right under his nose; from the information Shinigami's most trusted soldiers have gathered, this new family seemed to be calling themselves _Old World Disorder_. While the old don was concerned by the fact that despite this organization's growing influence, no one seemed to know who their Godfather was. Although what truly bothered Shinigami was that somehow their don managed to convince two of Shibusen's higher ranking officers, Sid and Naigus, to become turncoats in favor of them.

More recently, one of their most secure safe houses was successfully infiltrated by a surprise attacked by ANOTHER family that rose to power out of the blue called, _Black Magic_.

_Arachnophobia_:

If anything, they are the family that waits. After suffering their humiliating defeat at the hands of _the Shibusen Family_, almost everyone had given up this family for dead. Especially after the "death" of Arachne; through nothing short of a miracle the Queenpin survived. Arachne used this time to fake her death by completly secluding herself for the last thirty-three years and to plot her revenge.

The underlying reason for why the war happened in the first place was because one of Don Shinigami's most trusted officers, Eibon, was working with Arachne under the table and told her about his new experiment that became known as, _Brew._ It was an experimental method of obtaining any and every piece of information with the click of a mouse, let it be from civialians, other families, or even the government, but Don Shinigami soon caught wind of Eibon's betrayal and sent _Shibusen _soldiers to intervene. They killed Eibon and (so they think) Arachne before he could tell anyone how it was done; since an enemy might be able to figure out how to use _Brew, _they completely destroyed it and burned anything that related to it.

Now Arachne decided to break her silence and appeared before all of her loyal follows to show that their don was still alive and kicking, though _Shibusen_ doesn't know this yet. But she had "other" enemies to deal with as well. Like her snake of a sister, Medusa, who sold her out to Don Shinigami in the first place, so she could further whatever alterior motives she was planning. As she began catching up on her sister, Arachne learned that Medusa had a given birth to a son, named Chrona, who was roughly seventeen years old. Finding it amusing to think that she was an aunt now,but flinched a bit after learning of the child abuse he still has to endure at the hands of her sister. Then shrugged it off and continued reading all of the information that was gathered for her by Arachnophobia.

_Black Magic_:

They're a family that relies almost entirely on tactical planning and perfect execution, as opposed to depending on strength and numbers. Black Magic has actually been around for the last nine years (despite popular belief), though they only just decided that it was time to make their presence known throughout San Antonio.

The head of this crime family is none other than Medusa, the younger sister of Arachne. Medusa had played a key part in the initial downfall of _Arachnophobia_ as well as in Arachne's "death." Black Magic's current successor is Medusa's only son, Chrona.

_Old World Disorder_:

This is a mysterious new family that quickly rose to power two years ago in an unfathomable way that left an unnerving first-impression on anyone and everyone involved in Texas' underworld. Because of their exclusive membership no one, outside of Old World Disorder's high ranking officers, knows who their don is or what they look like. Even by the standards of the world of Mafiosos, Old World Disorder is very secretive and disingenuous; this crime syndicate operates like a shadow in the darkness.

**A.N: Hey, hope you enjoyed this epilogue of a prologue that I called my first chapter! **=D

**Sorry for taking so long to put ANYTHING out but college and my dream to make it to the pros as a comedy writer. I actually had this sitting on my desktop since December 18****th**** but I wanted to do this story justice (Considering how much could go wrong with it). So I actually studied, almost, every damn character in "Soul Eater" and took notes on their character structure and behavior patterns. I wanted to make sure that they'd be the same characters we all know and love but alter them enough where they could fit in this world. (In real life I'm **_**slightly **_**OCD about research & development, so leave me alone!) In case you didn't know, this story was greatly influenced by **_**The Godfather **_**and **_**Empire**_**. Please Review so I know how to improve, whether I should continue, and to stroke my ego if you want me to be perfectly honest. Thank you for taking your time to read this fanfic! Hope you enjoyed it! See ya in chapter two! (Two's gonna be like the next level that comes right after the first one!) ~Traffic9991**


	2. Too Far Gone

**Too Far Gone**

_2003_:

It's a beautiful day for the citizens of San Antonio as all the schoolkids were enjoying their spring vacation by playing at a local park that was coincidently near the Alamo. The only real oddity of this scene was the very presence of a white-haired albino looking boy with razor-sharp teeth that could only further portray him as a demon because of his piercing crimson-red eyes that went along with them; this was strange without the fact the area was mostly Blacks and Latinos, so seeing a White kid in that area would be called strange at best. While it wasn't lost to the other kids that he looked different, they just shrugged it off and kept on playing as he stood there, but it was the parents who began whispering within ear-range to one another about him.

Deciding to ignoring the gossiping mothers, he wandered around the playground until the child heard a yell from across the open field.

"Hey Soul! Over here!"

The lad grinned, showing his pointed teeth, as he saw a dread-lock/braided boy wave him over. Kilik was a friend Soul had made recently after they tried killing each other over a _Playboy Magazine _that one of the other kids had brought; to everyones' surprise, right after the two were finished with beating each other to a bloody pulp when all of a sudden they randomly broke out into laughter and they greatly got along with each other afterwords.

Kilik was Jamaican-born and was raised in New Jersey, but about a year ago he moved down south to live with his uncle in Texas. He wore these horrendously thick black-rimmed glasses; initially Soul thought they were for show thinking Kilik was a Hipster or something. Well that's what he assumed until Soul actually tried on Kiliks' glasses himself...

"Oh Crap," the boy yelled, "You really CAN'T see huh?"

An annoyed Kilik mocked, "You know, I really hate it when people say things like that. It's not like you'd sit in a guy's wheelchair and say, _oh wow, you really CAN'T walk_."

Though his braid-wearing pal just zinged him; Soul couldn't help but join in with everyone as they laughed, you gotta be able to take it as well as you can dish it out otherwise that just wouldn't be cool and Soul knew he could be a sarcastic asshole sometimes.

"So you down to play a game or what," Kilik asked as he motioned towards the basketball court.

"That's cool," Soul answered while he grabbed for the ball.

As the boys walked off towards the court, a short senior-looking man was keeping an eye on Soul as he remained seated on the bench as he attepted to drone out the chatting mothers. Then he felt a sudden vibration in his coats' inner-pocket when suddenly his cell phone began ringing.

"Hello?"

"Mosquito, it's me Arachne."

"Ahh yes, hello my lady; how are you feeling today?"

"I'm feeling well actually. So how's my son?"

"Soul's fine, we're currently at a park as a matter of fact. The boy wanted to play with that Kilik lad that I mentioned before."

"Interesting… Looks like he finally accepted someone other than ourselves into his life. Which is good, I was getting worried for a second that he'd completely isolate himself from other people. You know, in the same way Medusa's son has."

"Oh Lady Arachne, you mustn't contemplate things like that! If the child turns out any different than how you envisioned him when he becomes an adult then it'll only be his own fault."

"Quite Mosquito. It's thinking like that what made Medusa how she is now! If children are essentially the future then the way we treat Soul ultimately effect how the future will be for us."

"...Do you really think so highly of the child?"

"Well, he's still young right now, but his natural talent for things that would be essential for success in Arachnophobia is promising to say the least. That's why we'll drill the fundamentals of what it means to be in the family into his brain while he's still young; Soul simply has too much potential for me to pass up on."

"Yes, I see. I can't wait to bear witness to the fruits of your labor when he's old enough to be out on the field!... Who could have imagined that we would stumble across a diamond after the Evans family incident?"

"Well the father had to pay the toll for his wealth, success, and status and he _did _pay it... I guess a child is a small price to pay, not one most would pay, mind you, but that's fine by me… Now that boy that Soul made friends with, did you look him up like I asked?"

"Of course my lady, I dug into him as soon as you gave the order."

"Well, what's his story?"

"Let's see; Kilik Rung: he's 12, so a year older than Soul, and moved here from New Jersey last May. His mother has been in prison his entire life for a botched bank robbery that left several casualties. The boy's father is what we would call, an alcoholic deadbeat, and couldn't be any less involved in the child's life if he were divorced and lost all custody."

"Hmm? If that's the case then who's raising him now?"

"That would be his uncle, though according to this he only did it so he would be able to collect checks from the government, and didn't even bother enrolling Kilik in school. The uncle is actually in one of the local street gangs, and they're the ones who have actually been raising him since he arrived San Antonio; they even went the extra mile to teach the lad things like math and reading."

"Okay, so is there anything about him in particular?"

"As a person, he's a good kid and can work with just about anybody. There really isn't too mu- Oh wait, here's something... Even though he generally got along with people, the times he did get into fights Kilik would be absolutely merciless. His ruthless reputation in New Jersey earned him the alias of, "Devil Boy." His literal presence would actually terrify people to the point they refused to leave their houses if he was walking down the same block."

"(Heh) Funny how the first person my little Soul would connect with would have potential to live the life as well... So which gang was it exactly?"

"One of our subdivisions actually; would you like me to make a few phone calls lady Arachne?"

"It's scary how well you know me Mosquito (Laughs). The more the merrier I always say and it couldn't hurt to have a guaranteed soldier on our side when we eventually begin making our moves."

The phone then began beeping after Arachne had hung up, leaving Mosquito to stare at his cellphone as the symbol for a dead battery began to flash. As the old man looked up he saw that the boys were arguing and accusing each other of cheating. The senior then immediatly began to realize that he would be the one home-schooling both of these boys soon.

It wasn't like he could leave any of the studies up anyone else. Noah's currently busy raising his own protégé, but even if he wasn't Mosquito wouldn't want to leave anything up to his bi-polar prone comrade. As for Giriko (a.k.a. "Saw")… The guy was someone who would get easily frustrated, was about as compassionate as a New York mugging, about as reliable as a $3-dollar bill, and he had the intelligence of a man cleaning out his ear using the barrel of his revolver as a make-shift Q-tip. So yeah, he would soon become their teacher Mosquito thought with a sigh.

_2012 (9 years later)_:

We enter a secluded warehouse somewhere around the Leon Valley area, where the sounds of tortured screams can be heard. Inside stand Soul "Eater" Evans and Kilik Rung, who are now 20 and 21 years old respectfully; though they were now taller, were more muscular, had deeper voices, and were significantly smarter but they still had the same look about them.

The screaming was coming from a Native-American man who looked to be in his mid-forties because of the bald spot that was developing in the back of his head. The reason he was screaming his lungs rasp was because of the fact that he was tied to a chair and set on fire to die a slow, agonizing, death. Soul then reached for the cigarettes he kept in his breast-pocket, and lit one of his _Parliament 100's_ using the flames that were emitting from the tortured mans' skull.

"You know, after a while work kinda loses its zing doesn't it?"

Kilik gave Soul a quizzical look.

"I'm just saying that watching a man burn to death gets sorta old after a while, don't ya think?"

Kilik laughed, "Dude, you're SERIOUSLY fucked in the head."

While giving his signature smirk Soul motioned, "Come on, let's go. I wanna get to Best Buy while they still have the first two seasons of _Titus_ on sale."

"What about this guy?" Kilik asked while pointing at the Native-American.

Soul lazily glanced over and shrugged, "Ain't like he's going anywhere, and we ain't about to break out the peace pipe with the Indian... Either way we have our soldiers here so it's all good. We'll go to Wendy's or something after and get strawberry milkshakes."

Kilik just sighed, "Eh, alright then. I've been meaning to see if they got that Katt Williams stand-up I've been looking for anyway..."

Though these two may not look too different from 9 years ago, but mentally they've been completely corrupted beyond repair, and their sense of morals and decency have been all but completely corroded away...

**A.N.: This one I had partially written and I just spruced it up today. I thought the concept of Arachne raising Soul as a mother figure was interesting to say the least; I just had to make it where it would fit the story. As far as Kilik goes, I guess you can say I always feel the need to include minor characters in the story arch. It would've been Blackstar but I have… **_**other **_**plans for him. (Cue demonic laugh) If you have any guesses as to where I'm taking this story leave it as a comment or message me. Please make sure to review it'll tell me how I can get better, and motivation to continue. Thank you for reading! I hoped you enjoyed this installment! See ya'll in Chapter Three! ~Traffic9991**


	3. Breathing Ain't Living

**Breathing's Not Living**

Somewhere in an out of the way area in San Antonio there's the town of Hot Wells. While it is a nice little suburb, there is always a small part of any town that's not exactly safe to casually walk around. In that part of town there lies a small raggity flophouse that appears to have been abandoned; almost all of the windows are cracked or broken, and almost ever frame was boarded up. The paint on the house illustrates that it probably once had a beautiful white coat but today it's almost entirely covered in mold and the paint has on all counts thoroughly chipped away revealing a wood frame that matches the boards covering the windows; the complete lack of furnish ultimately denies this house of becoming the home that it could have been. Though the house may not have been abandoned, the child that sat alone inside the confined basement of it was.

While Chrona sat in the darkness of his corner, he couldn't hear anything but the droplets of water as they hit the unevenly-laid concrete of the basement floor. For as long as he could remember his mother had been training him to become the next don for her family, but Chrona just couldn't do anything right. Even when he was finally able kill the tired mans' little ones, his mother was still unsatisfied and locked him in his small dungeon-like room in the basement for days on end until he learned to stop being an embarassment to Medusa. Eventually the _Black Magic_ Godmother either got tired or gave up on her son and left Chrona to train under one of her Consiglieres', Ragnarok.

Although Ragnarok was a very short-tempered and a foul-mouthed man, he still taught Chrona everything he would need to know in order to survive as well as succeed in the world of organized crime. Through his mentors' guidance, Chrona eventually rose to the rank of a Capo to work alongside, the near-mute, Mizune. Unfortunately even with all the progress, Medusa still saw Chrona as a disappointing failure and continued to be the abusive mother she always was while still refusing to show him any affection as a count of it being the root of weakness in her eyes.

Before Medusa left for the day, she made the uncommon gesture of telling Chrona where she would be while gone. Though once the teens' twisted mother informed him that she was going to visit his father, because she knew full-well that Chrona has no memory of him and had always been curious about the man who had helped in giving birth to him; so it made sense now why she would tell him today. All Chrona knew about his father was that he was a sadist and was highly unstable both mentally and emotionally. The mental image that the teen painted was based off what he could pick up from the soldiers and Made Men when they spoke of the man, also that he enjoyed science and experimentation just as much as his mother did.

While his mother was gone, the young Capo decided to hum a little tune as he sat in the darkness, enjoying the echo it made as the sounds bounced off all the walls around him. As the minutes turned to hours Chrona soon became mesmerized by the number of times each drop of water would hit the floor; trying his best to distract himself from the thoughts that always crepted into his head when he was alone.

_Is she __**really **__seeing dad?_

_Why does my mother keep me if she can't even stand to be around me?_

_If she doesn't care about me, why not kill her?_

_I know I can easily run away… Why don't I?_

In a twisted way Chrona understood why Medusa would rather work with machines and chemicals than with people; she might have a different reason than him, but for Chrona people were just too complicated to deal with.

Unbeknownst to Chrona, there was what looked like a small task force gathering outside of his little bubble, who were ready to storm the place. As more cars gathered, there were two people clearly leading the assault. One was a baby-faced looking girl with sandy-blonde hair that were tied into pigtails, through her forest-green eyes you were able to see strong ambition, she was also probably the only person carrying a small sickle instead of a gun like the rest of the soldiers. The man next to her looked to be at least 3 feet taller as he stood there with his eyes squinted tight enough where you would assume that he fell asleep, his head was shaven into striped designs on the right-side of his head (contrast to Kidd who had strips on the left-side), and he looked as if he were a bodyguard though the open-toed sandals that Joe always wore completely ruined the image.

"Alright to everyone who's here," the girl began, "from what we could tell this is a flophouse that _Black Magic_ uses."

"They were the ones who attacked our safe house a couple of weeks ago," the other man elaborated.

The young girl began glaring at him as if to say, `_who the __**fuck **__are __**you **__to correct me in front of __**my **__soldiers!'_

Putting his hands up in surrender he whispered, "Look Maka, I just thought a little insight on this might motivate them for a better performance."

Maka just growled, "Whatever Joe," and then continued, "We don't know what we'll find, but if there are any soldiers or _Black Magic _affiliates shoot em' but try to leave them alive. It's not like a dead body can give us any information. So think of this as a robbery; grab anything that's not nailed down, take it, and then we'll burn the rest to the ground."

Joe nodded in agreement, "So, we ready?"

Maka looked at the ten soldiers who came tonight to help out with the mission and then motioned for the Senior Enforcer, who stood next to her, to go through the front, so she could sneak in through the back. She watched as Joe effortlessly unlocked the front door, just to make sure everything went well on his end. Maka ran to the backyard as soon as the other _Shibusen _soldiers began walking in the house when it was clear that there weren't any unfortunate surprises.

As the pig-tailed girl jumped over the gate for the chain-link fence, she realized that the backdoor was only connected to the basement, but continued on with the plan. For the most part, Maka made a mental note that _Black Magic's _Don had no real security as far as she could tell; the place looked like a crack house for Christ's sake. As she continued down this train of thought Maka even began to question if this place was even worth the _Shibusen Family's _time, or maybe it was a trap.

Shaking her head, Maka put these thoughts on the backburner of her mind and concentrated on the mission at hand. As she looked around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness; it was then that the young lady realized that it was more of a lab than a basement.

Maka muttered to herself, "Is it for Meth?"

While continuing to scan the room, Maka realized that there was a distinct smell in the air… blood… She then began to motion for the light switch and when the girl finally hit the lever, the first thing she saw were the crimson-red walls that seemed to engulfed the entire basement. Although Maka had been with the_ Shibusen Family _long enough to become their youngest Capo ever, but her experience up to that point was child's play compared to the disgust she felt to the very pit of her stomach after looking at the scene before her.

Desperate to look away, Maka noticed something that was out of place; it was a bolt-locked door that was connected to a room that took up maybe one-fifth of the basement. The young Capo, mustering all the courage she could, walked up to the door. Then after swallowing spit, she closed her eyes, and turned the knob.

Initially Maka heard nothing, so out of sheer curiosity she slowly began opening her eyes, and at first glance the Capo didn't see anything either.

As she arched a brow Maka questioned, "Why do they even have this?"

From the dark of the corner a lowly audible whisper asked, "W-Who are you?"

Completely taken by shock Maka fell backwards out of the room. But as she realized the voice didn't come after her, the Capo crept back into the room and peeked around the edge of the steel door. In the corner the young woman saw what looked like a malnourished girl.

"I'm Maka, a Capo for the Shibusen Family. Now who might you be," the teen sternly answered.

"M-My name's Ch-Chrona..."

"Hmm," Maka pondered considering if this girl was a threat or not.

"So, um, w-why are you here?"

"Last week _Black Magic _attacked one of our safe houses," Maka bluntly answered.

Tilting his head Chrona stated, "Oh, so that's what they were doing."

Maka's eyes instantly grew like billiard balls, `_this girl __**knows **__something! Might be best to bring her over to the compound.'_

"Hey," Maka soothed gingerly, "Would you like to come with me? I'm sure you don't really like this place."

"No… I belong here."

"Why?"

"Because I constantly disappoint mother."

"And who's your mother," Maka asked while giving a quizzically look at what was just said.

With his head buried in the pillow he uttered, "M-Medusa…"

_`So, this is her kid. Probably better to get her outta here.'_

After what felt like hours of going back and forth Maka learned a couple of things about Chrona:

1) She has a deep fear of interacting with people

2) She was dangerously paranoid that intensified her on-edge personality

3) She's a Capo for Black Magic

"I mean (twisted laugh) it's not like I deserve anyone's attention! I'm even wasting your time by making you think I'm worth something. I'm such a failure and a coward that you even went as far as to-"

As Chrona began relentlessly tormenting herself with self-loathing, Maka finally couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed Chrona by the collar, and then began to cock her fist as if to take a swing.

"Not one more thing… I won't let you say one more thing about yourself!"

Chrona's eyes widened at this.

Maka gently worded, "You call yourself a weak coward when you've been putting up with this all your life. You keep saying that you're ugly when you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

Maka gently brushing her soft lips to Chrona's which were completely cut and tattered. While still in shock Chrona agreed to go with Maka.

As they walked Chrona then wondered, `_w-why did she call me a girl…?"_

**A.N: So the third chapter's in! Looks like Maka might be a lesbian and has a thing for Chrona, but… (S)he's not a women… This kinda turned into the **_**Crying Game **_**in reverse, guess you can call it like the Aerosmith song, **_**Dude Looks like a Lady**_**. I know this chapter could've been its own story, whether serious or crack, it works both ways (Heh heh) but I thought it could play an interesting side-story. In all honesty this story isn't as dark or gritty as I thought it would, well it's still in the early stages so all in good time and it's never a good idea to rush things. Please Favorite and/or Review so I can have an idea on what I'm doing well and for motivation! Oh, and I'm curious as to whatever theories some of you may have so go ahead and predict! (You may give me some ideas!) Thanks for Reading! See ya'll in the 4****th**** installment! (Side-note: I AM working on **_**Soul and Chrona: Too Much Adventure!) ~Traffic9991**_


	4. Reasonable Doubt

**Reasonable Doubt**

The _Shibusen _were almost finished with the top two floors, and right as Joe was about to make his way to the basement he saw Maka and what looked like a dying teenager coming upstairs.

"Geez, we were wondering where you disappeared off to," then he looked at the purple-haired child, "Who's the kid?"

"Well this is Chrona; she actually has information we need and is willing to help us."

"Okay, um, let's talk about this outside by the car."

Maka nodded and motioned for Chrona to follow.

"Alright don't bullshit me who _is _she," the Sr. Enforcer demanded with absolute authority.

If Maka didn't know better, she would have forgotten that she outranked him.

"I don't think I like your tone _Sr. Enforcer_ Joe… Either way it's not like it's any of _your _business of who I trust or associate myself with!"

While sneering Joe spat, "Well if they're going to be let in the family then it kinda is; I **am **the Sr. Enforcer after all, and I need to have good info on _all _the soldiers!"

Maka bit her lip and cursed.

"She's, uh, Medusa's daughter…"

At those words a sadistic grin grew on his face, "Oh this is **way **better than I thought! Heh, good idea Maka, she'll **definitely **make a good bargaining chip."

Chrona began to shudder at the man's words; the way he spoke reminded him of Medusa.

Then the lady Capo spoke up, "No Joe, that's not what we're gonna do! Chrona's going to join the _Shibusen Family _and give us all the information she has on _Black Magic_."

"You're being too naïve, there's too much of a chance that she'll just double-cross us and give up our secrets. I don't see any way of Don Shinigami even listening to your case."

Maka defiantly challenged, "Well last I checked **you **weren't the don; so I guess we'll just leave it up to Shinigami then!"

Joe just gritted his teeth and walked off.

Chrona stuttered, "S-So we're okay?"

Maka smiled, "Yeah, we're just going to need to get some people on our side when we present your case tomorrow."

"Will that be hard?"

"Nah, a couple of people owe me favors and I'm sure one or two will agree."

The young lady just talked on as Chrona intently listened though he had very little understanding of what she was talking about. Maka brought Chrona to her condominium and offered her stay for as long as she needed.

The next day almost all of the high ranking officers knew of the situation. So far Joe Buttataki had Yumi Azusa- a Consigliere, Spirit Albarn- an Underboss, and Justin Law- a Consigliere (Who honestly had no interest in the situation). As well as the support from one of the soldiers, Anya Hepburn.

Maka wasn't giving up without a fight though. She managed to gain support from some of her personal friends like Death the Kidd- a Capo, Tsubaki Nakatsukasa- a Capo, and Liz & Patti- Personal Bodyguards for Kidd. The pig-tailed teen also pulled some strings to gain some backing from Marie Mjolnir- a Consigliore, Dr. Franken Stein- an Underboss (He only wanted Chrona so he could have another test subject; which wouldn't be a problem... for now anway), and Tsugumi Harudori- a Soldier (She idololizes Maka and tries to emulate her).

As the meeting called to order, Don Shinigami made one of his rare appearances. He was wearing a black cloak that completely covered him from head to toe, and bore a Skull Mask that he wore at all times; some people believed it was because he was paranoid and felt he need it, others speculated it was to always keep his identity a secret, but whatever the case even his own son, Kidd, has never seen what he looks like.

The Godfather decided to just address the elephant in the room and so he started off with the big issue just to get it out of the way. Each side, with Maka on one end and Joe on the other, gave their arguments, and then all the members stated "their" opinions. Shinigami is the most difficult man to read, as far as who gets their way and who doesn't, nobody ever really knows until the don makes his decision. With anyone else, Maka can at least get an idea of what they're thinking but Don Shinigami was always a mystery to her.

"I will make my decision… **After **I have spoken with Chrona Gorgon."

At every syllable their don spoke, everyone seemed to hang onto every word. He then motioned for Chrona to walk with him into a private room where they could openly talk. Chrona waddled over with a look of dread plastered on his face.

After three and a half hours of conversing, the two finally came back.

The anxious Capo asked, "So, what's your judgment Don Shinigami?"

Without even looking up Shinigami answered, "Chrona seems trustworthy enough."

Maka gave a sigh of relief.

"But since you're the one who brought them in, you're going to be responsible for Chronas' actions. You do undestand what that means right?"

"Oh thank you Don Shinigami! That's not going to be a problem," Maka cheered.

If she didn't know any better, Maka could have sworn that the don just smiled and winked behind his mask. The gesture was not lost to Chrona either, but it didn't matter because he was just glad that the _Shibusen Godfather_ didn't expose him as being a boy to Maka…

**A.N: Aw Crap! Looking back I realized that I kept switching back and forth between names for **_**the Reapers/DWMA/Shibusen family**_**. For the record I want to call them the Shibusen Family, but I may subconsciously switch names again… As far as this chapter goes, it's kind of a continuation from "Breathing Ain't Living" but this would have made it too long (and I can be lazy); so I broke it up into two parts. Like I said, so far there's not as much drama/suspense going on as I would like but I think the art of build-up is lost in story-telling and I'll (try) to keep things running smoothly. Please Favorite and/or Review so I know if I'm pacing the story well, if there's another problem that I haven't noticed, and for motivation! Also, take guesses as to where you think the story's going (Might give me a good idea!) Thank you for reading! See ya in Chapter 5 bitches! ~Traffic9991**


	5. Quite Storm

**Quite Storm**

As blood began to trickle down the small store owners' ear, she reluctantly handed the money to the black Underboss who stood before her. He forcefully snatched the small wad of cash out of the womans' trembling hands as he then quickly walked away from the scene where the extortion just took place.

"Shit, I thought _Old World_ would have made a lot more progress by now... I didn't sign up to beat on senior-looking baker women for chump change, that's not the kind of man I am."

It's been nearly two years since _Old World Disorder _made their presence known to the _Shibusen Family_ after taking some of the better suppliers from them, though things haven't necessarily been going easy fot this family either. In what may be a case of "Too-much-power-too-fast", the _Old World Disorder Syndicate _has developed an unforeseen problem concerning their number of soldiers as of late. With the growing number of shops who were now paying for their protection, the number of soldiers they currently have simply can't keep up with it. To make matters slightly more complicated, their territory isn't just confined to just one area, unlike other gangs who have more influence or presence in a certain section of a city. Well the Godfather insisted that their forces be spread out across the San Antonio area in order to avoid the notice of Don Shinigami and the rest of the _Shibusen Family_. So now everyone, including the high ranking officials, are running around and collecting money from the various buisnesses that they're in charge of because of distance that was made from the arrangements and to keep their family as unified as possible.

As Sid made his way to what was thought to only be their temporary compound, which lay underneath the sewers of the city.

"How the hell can **anyone **get used to the smell," the braided mobster wondered aloud to himself.

While the black mobster was walking he happened to pass up the family's current Sr. Enforcer, Mifune, who just gave a head nod at Sid.

The silver-haired man worked as a free agent in the underworld for many years, and no one has ever been able to recruit him up to this point. No one's been able to convince the swordsman to claim an affiliation and there was no tactic that seemed to prove otherwise; not suggestion, bribes, threats, or anything else for that matter in the fifteen years he's been in the business. That was until the Don of _Old World Disorder_ learned that he was a single father through his "sources" and promised Mifune that he would personally make sure that Angela would have the familys' protection and safety. Because of his long track-record and the number of people who wanted him dead, Mifune knew that there was no way she could get the same security with only him as she would with the shelter from an entire crime syndicate; so Mifune readily agreed.

As Sid reached the door at the end of the corridor, he turned the knob so he could have a face-to-face discussion with their leader… Don Wes Evans.

The Don stood about 5'7", wearing a casual button-up dress shirt with his clean-pressed jeans that complimented the brown zip-up leather boots he was wearing. Even though he was only thirty-one years old, Wes' blizzard-white hair always gave him the image of being much older than he was to anyone who met him. Wes was standing in his make-shift office and was halfway-through pouring himself a glass of Vodka as he lazily glanced up to see that his Underboss walking in.

Sid couldn't help but wince as his Godfather gazed upon him. Where Souls' blood-red eyes yelled things like murder, determination, aggression, courage, and had an unmistakable indication his own insanity. When in contrast Wes' abyss-like purple eyes looked as if they were ready to completely engulf everything in the world by sheer force. The darkness that enveloped his pupils always gave this suffocating effect on people that was undescribable unless you experianced it yourself. Now combine all this with a determination that parallels Souls' and you have a window to the soul that cries in unresolvable madness and only seeks one thing as its' goal… "The End"…

Cutting straight to the point Wes probed, "You finished making your runs for the day Sid?"

"Um, yes sir, I just came to talk to you about our teething troubles with our number of recruits."

Without looking up from his glass the Don stated, "I actually agree with you on this one Sid. We really should start adding to our street forces." Then laughed, "After all it wouldn't look good on our new family if I keep my Underbosses doing jobs that Soldiers and Associates should be taking care of."

Already being used to Wes' sense of humor by now Sid decided to change the subject, "So, sir, besides our numbers what's the status of progress for _Old World Disorder_?"

While grinning the Godfather sat down and asserted, "Things have been going very well lately as a matter of fact. There have been certain… _developments _lately that will definitely work in our favor!"

The Underboss tilted his head in confusion.

Wes elaborated, "If there was ever a time when to take down Don Shinigami, right now is the time to do it! Recently a new family came into the mix, _Black Magic_, and they had the brilliant idea to raise their flag by bombing a _Shibusen_ safe house. Also, by chance, Arachne decided to quietly come out of hiding and regain control of _Arachnophobia_; so in the last couple of months they've been becoming a lot more organized and much more active. In other words _Shibusen _is going to have **a lot **on their plates for the time being. So while everyone's busy killing each other, we'll be able to sit back watch all the other families weaken themselves as we're getting our strength and up."

Sid arched a brow and asked, "I thought Arachne was killed with Eibon?"

The white-haired don tsked, "She faked her death man. Still, I never would have thought that Don Shinigami could be so sloppy…"

With that Sid turned towards the door and before the black man could grab for the handle, a figure walked into the room.

It was Don Wes Evans personal advisor, The Clown Consigliere. If Sid had known the role Clown would've played by the end of the game, he would've set him up to go on a trip that night…

**A.N: Damn! Wonder what I'm foreshadowing?... And did any of you guess that Wes was going to be the Godfather for **_**Old World Disorder**_**! Recently this story has been my main focus (I'll come back to the others) but I don't know… I kinda thought it'd do a lil better than it has so far (in terms of views). Well no crying over nothing, I think I may have found the right formula for this series! For the last couple of entries I've been following the "Throw-Stuff-Against-The-Wall-And-See-What-Sticks" theory, since I've felt like switching up my writing style from comedy. If you liked this then **_**please**_** check out my other work on my page! Please Review and/or Favorite so I know where to play my strengths, where I need to improve, and for motivation for me to continue! If you have any theories as to where I'm taking this story, feel free to share (It might give me an idea or two). Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed this installment! See ya'll in Chapter 6! ~Traffic9991**


	6. Truth's Razors

**Truth's Razors**

_Choices… We all make choices… But when all is said and done, isn't it our choices that ultimately make us…_

Kilik was driving home, with Soul riding shotgun, in his Trailblazer as the two ate a box of McNuggets that Soul jammed into Kiliks' change holder after they left the drive-thru. After working on his strawberry milkshake for a couple of minutes Kilik broke the silence,

"Soul, not for nothing but, you should really learn how to drive a car."

"Ah not _this _crap again," Soul complained.

"Look, I know that you love your bike, and would probably hump it if you could, but I just want you to drive something that won't attract too much attention."

"You mean my Harley isn't subtle," Soul dramatically gasped.

The driver simply rolled his eyes and responded, "Yeah about as subtle as Giriko… I mean, like, in general. Your bike's about as subtle as him."

Soul just sneered, "Yeah well I want a smaller cock, guess none of us of are gonna get what we want."

Kilik screamed, "Could you **not **be a dick for one **fucking **minute!"

"I'm only a dick when you're being a pussy Kilik," Soul snickered.

"I'll take that as a _no_…"

"Don't even worry about it fam; if it weren't for the fact that you're a pussy I'd never get to fuck with you!" Soul laughed.

"What the hell are you even- Oh, wait, I get it… Very funny, asshole…"

The dark skinned sibling just sighed in defeat as he drove them the rest of the way in silence, only glancing over when he noticed Soul's left leg subconsciously fidgeting while he stared out the window. Kilik slowly shifted down in his seat at the sight of this; he then reached over to the change holder, grabbing a handful of the nuggets that were there. He didn't bother asking his sibling if he wanted any, because Kilik knew full well that the crimson-eyed young adult would have just turned it down because he wouldn't have had much of an appetite. Chances are Soul probably won't have a taste for anything to eat tomorrow either…

It had been fifteen more minutes of driving before Kilik finally made it to their destination… Home…

It was a house in one of the nicer suburbs of Texas, fairly secluded with their nearest neighbor being half-a-mile away. This was where Soul and Kilik had been raised for the majority of their lives by Arachne and Mosquito; where the two learned almost everything they know. Mosquito home-schooled them until they turned fourteen, and then sent them off to public school. Otherwise they'd be smart enough to know how to make a deal for money, but not enough common sense to know how to deal with people.

As soon as Kilik pulled up and parked in the dirt paved-driveway, Soul immediately pushed his passenger door open and dashed to the second floor, where his room was, passing Mosquito.

"So… Did the _problem _get taken care of," the shriveled man asked expectantly.

Without missing a beat the dreadlock bearing Mafioso responded, "No, because we never _had_ a problem to begin with…"

The senior gave the young black mobster a momentary yet fulfilled smile that only lasted a quarter of a second, so if you blinked you missed it, and then gestured for the teen to come over.

As Kilik followed his former-mentor in the backyard, his thick-rimmed glasses almost fell off his face in surprise as he saw what looked like a small party at his house.

"Uh, Mosquito, what is all this?"

The short gentleman answered, "You see, with all of the progress we've made these last couple of years, Lady Arachne felt it was appropriate to have a little celebration, so she had Noah arrange a barbeque."

"Oh," Kilik droned still lost as to what to say next.

"So," Mosquito continued, "It seems Soul ran off to his room, I see…"

"Uh, yeah he did…" Kilik somberly answered as the pained expression on his face intensified.

The old man sighed and sat the youngster, that he once called his pupil, down into one of the folding chairs next to him and said,

"If there is one thing I can ever teach you, let it be that you are not responsible for anyone else's actions or decisions. You can only control what you do; you may be able to influence what others do but it's ultimately their decision and _**everyone **_has to live with that. Not just you, and not just them, but everybody."

Though still distressed Kilik nodded his head and asked, "So, what are we going to do about Soul?"

After giving his answer some thought Mosquito sighed, "I don't know Kilik. Soul might clean himself up eventually, or he could go further down in a spiral and become a liability to Arachnophobia… But, that's just an educated guess on how things may turn out."

At the thought of his brother becoming too much of a problem Kilik quickly motioned for one of the peons at the party to get him a mixed two-finger shot of Vodka and Patron.

"Listen, Kilik." Mosquito resumed, "I going to have to go in a little while for some business on Arachne's behalf; are you going to be alright?"

After finishing his sentence Kilik had just topped of the two-finger and ordered for another.

_**A.N: God Damn! Felt like a long time didn't it? You miss me? Cause I sure as hell missed you! Sorry for ending the chapter like this, but if I kept going it would've been long as hell! Did you guys catch on to what's exactly the problem with Soul? Take a guess, curious to hear how some think it'll play out. From the looks of things, it's going to follow the "Arachnophobia-story" for the next 2-3 chapters. Sorry to those who wanted to see more of the others, but for plot purposes it has to be this way. **_

_**If you enjoyed this story, then feel free to check out some of the other stories and one-shots I've written! Please Review, it's nice when people favorite, but I just want to hear some honest feedback to know where I need to improve and for motivation for me to continue! Thank you for taking your time to read this, and I hope you enjoyed! See you in the 7**__**th**__** installment!**_

_**I'm back bitch! Feels good to be home! ~Traffic9991**_


	7. Malice In Wonderland

**Malice in Wonderland**

After Soul pushed old man Mosquito out of his way, he tackled the front door open, dashed to the second floor towards his room, and once there Soul span around slamming the door shut and locked it.

As his shark-like teeth began jittering, the Albino-Mafioso franticly reached for the candle-holster that hung the left side of his bed, and after pulling the candle wax out it revealed a syringe in a well-hidden compartment. At the chance of anything being discovered, Soul kept all of his tools in various hiding places in the house; he kept many syringes and spoons but they were easy and cheap to come by, what Soul _really _had to hide was his Heroin which he kept in little bottles scattered everywhere. Knowing all of his stashing areas by heart, the young mobster ran towards the doorknob to his closet and unscrewed handle to retrieve his fix.

While Soul walked towards his personalized work desk, he was getting the injection ready. He had to look for a good vein before actually pumping it, because it was much like the gangsters' other love, music. Whenever the needle hits the rough patch on the record and the note sounds just perfect, it's almost calming to the point of euphoria for him; the same analogy can be applied to what he felt when he was on these drugs.

It had been half an hour since the gray-haired young adult pumped the heroin into a good vein he found somewhere on his shoulder, Soul began to wonder if he got shafted by his connect. That was, until, he felt the room begin to spin in a downward spiral and watched as tan pinstriped wall turn pitch black with a black and crimson-red checkerboard patterned floor. As everything began either melting or shifting before his eyes, his black/yellow jacket turned into a black pinstriped suit with a blood-red dress shirt to match what the room had become.

After everything finally stopped moving the twenty year-old adjusted his eyes and realized that he was now in an empty room with only a piano in the center of it. As Soul gazed hungrily upon his instrument, memories began resurfacing centered around him and his beloved piano.

From Mosquito criticizing, `_hmm it seems you CAN do things in a way that's not half-assed.'_

Mother Arachne praising him after playing for her, `_I'm glad that you found something that you love to do. I hope you never stop playing._'

Kilik running up and challenging him, `_Hey, I bet you thirty bucks you can't play the song from Harry Potter!'_

To Giriko bitching, `_Tch, the piano? How the fuck are you gonna make money playin with the piano!' _

As all these memories flooded Soul, a small door that he didn't notice opened. From it the albino saw a small devil come out dancing with its hips shaking and fingers snapping.

Agitated at its presence Soul snapped, "And who the hell are **you **supposed to be?"

"Oh come on Soul," the demon chuckled, "this is starting to become distasteful. Would you stop pretending to not know who I am? I'm getting tired of having to explain it to you every time we meet."

As he raised a brow the mobster questioned, "We've meet?"

Like the flip of a coin the little devils' sing-songy voice turned demonic as he spat, "what did I just say Soul? Why must you deny me!"

Startled by its' change in tone and what it just said, Soul was only able to stare at it wide-eyed for the moment.

The little demon then began to shove Soul out the door where he came through while shouting, "Though I may have this appearance, you're the real monster between the two of us Soul! Since you're still too much of a weakling to accept me, you have to go."

Soul didn't want to leave yet, the room had made him feel safe but before he was able to protest the little demon had already shut the door. Right as he heard the door click behind him, Soul heard a door open in front of him hoping that it was the room from before. It wasn't though because instead of a calming darkness that blanketed him from before, there was a blinding light that hurt the young Mafioso to his core. As he adjusted to the change he saw a figure before him, this time instead of the little devil it was Noah's protégé, Gopher.

Apparently Noah had sent Gopher to retrieve Soul for the ceremony, and he was in his closet now… Though Gopher never personally dealt with Mr. Eater, he heard the rumors and saw the guys' erratic behaviors before. Soul's drug problem is easily the family's worst kept secret.

_The Arachnophobia Dining Pavilion_

Today was a special treat for the higher ups in Arachnophobia; their leader was going to make an appearance. The announcement was made by the two most trusted and senior members of the family, Mosquito and Giriko to the soldiers and associates of Arachnophobia; the enormous crowd was almost like being at a parade, which was surprising considering how it was common belief that they were finished.

Mosquito was a short, older man and while it was evident that he was valued more for his intellectual contributions than his fighting skills; anyone with common sense could still tell, by this aura he gave off, that he was still **not **a man that you would want to go up against. Noah was tall, shaggy-haired, and dark man who was prone to violent mood swings; what his skills are exactly or how anyone was able work with him was anybody's guess.

Arachne finally stepped forward and hushed her two right-hand men before they could begin arguing.

She stated, "Today's a day for us to celebrate a momentous achievement, not to engage in petty squabbles…"

"I-I'm sorry my lady," Mosquito apologized while Giriko continued to glare daggers at everyone in the room.

As if nothing happened Arachne continued, "Today I am proud to finally award the title of Underboss to someone who has proven time and time again that they're willing to go extraordinary lengths for the family."

At this point every officer at the meeting grew dead silent, anxiously waiting to see who it could have been to earn this elusive title. Though one Capo didn't bother to sit up from his chair, because he knew in his heart who it would be. Kilik couldn't help but grin at the thought.

It was then Soul came from behind the curtain wearing the darkest and worst kept suit any of them had ever seen at one of these. The white-haired boy had then accepted the title and thanked everyone, while clearly trying not to slur his speech or make any odd arm movements, and exited as quickly as he came.

It was official… Soul was now Arachnophobia's Underboss…

_**A.N: Jesus Christ, sorry for the wait. **_

_**Well this chapter was a little different from my past entries, but I can say that about this story in general (as far as being different from my comfort zone). I now have this cursed chapter that I've worked on periodically finished! XD**_

_**I know I haven't updated anything in a long while, but I've just been spread out time-wise; From college, work, my people, the release of the 3**__**rd**__** episode of Pandora Hearts Abridged: The Manga, the demands of a normal social life, and I've been working on a book of short stories with the intentions of releasing it independently!**_

_**With that said, I may or may not release chapters in a more timely fashion (that goes for ALL my stories). There are one or two of mine that I do feel I should pass the torch on because I've either got no material but I still feel it's a good story or I wrote myself into a corner and someone else may be able to do something with it. The only one I know for sure right now is "The Real Slim Shady?" but we'll see what happens.**_

_**So did this chapter work for you? Any particular comments you'd like to make? If so then please favorite and/or Review so I know what works and what doesn't. As well as to stroke my ego to give me motivation to keep on writing this stuff! Thank you for taking your time to read and I hope you enjoyed the story thus far! See you guys in the next installment!**_

_**~Traffic9991**_


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